Murder for Love
by vcharlie
Summary: Someone has killed off Naru for Keitaro’s love, someone very close to her.
1. The Murder

1st Chapter – The Murder

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina, if I did cupid would have a field day.

Author's Notes: I don't know how the Japanese justice systems works, so I'm going to make it up in later chapters. Also I haven't decided who the murderer is yet.

An uncharacteristic thick fog rolled into the Hinata province obscuring everything but the shadows. Two close friends who had by coincidence meet were walking home. Naru was starting to be concerned about her friend's sudden introversion.

"Keitaro has really become more mature ever since he got back from America hasn't he." Naru's friend stated with an odd monotone.

Naru felt odd with that comment but replied, "Yes, he certainly has. Being around Seta has really rubbed off on him. Those digs he's done has really put some muscles on him. Is there something wrong?"

"Do you love him?"

Naru couldn't comprehend why her friend was asking THAT question.

"Do you love him?"

Naru blushed and hesitantly said, "Yes. Yes, I believe I am. I don't think I'm ready yet."

"Why?" Her friend painfully said.

Naru was confused at what she meant. Her friend was acting very strange.

"Why do you have to love him?" she sobbed out as tears streaked down her face. "You can have any man out there but why do you want him?"

Naru didn't know what to say, it is true that she had always been popular with men but she never gave them any attention. Keitaro became special to her. He became someone who she wanted to start a family with. She wouldn't let him go, but her close friend loved him too. All the residents of the Hinata House loved him.

Naru tried to reach out to comfort her friend, to make her understand. Her friend stepped away from her.

Then pulled out and aimed a gun at her face.

Naru froze at seeing the weapon's silencer almost poking her eye.

"If you are gone he can be mine." She said with cold conviction.

"NO! PLEASE DON'T-!" Naru screamed before being cut off by a bullet entering her brain. Death does make it difficult to say things.

To Be Continued…

To the readers and hopefully reviewers: Updates are going to be erratic. Also when leaving a review either good or bad try to tell me the WHY, it will greatly aid me. Also my e-mail doesn't work.


	2. Investigation

2nd Chapter – Investigation

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Author's notes: All of the reviewers have done some great guessing as to the mystery person. Remember, ALL of the residence of Hinata could be considered close friends of Naru's.

Detective Maklie hated investigating murders, chasing after a killer is too similar to looking for a landmine. You never know when you found it and how _not_ to set it off. The Japanese government thoughtfully didn't supply the police with weapons, unless you can consider a collapsible baton a weapon. The shoddy thing keeps breaking every other hit, when it doesn't jam. Then there was the victim's crying families, if they actually gave a damn.

Then there's the bodies.

Just one look at the injustice inflicted on them, their vacant eyes pleading for justice. How could one not put their soul to rest? Damn the dead for making the living feel so guilty!

'This is Japan! We're supposed to be better than killing each other!' Maklie could only think with exasperation.

His walk ended at his destination, a place where he hoped to get some answers.

Hinata Inn

There one resident had some questions too.

"Has anyone seen Naru? I didn't see her come back last night." Keitaro asked everyone at breakfast. He was trying to appear calm, but the quiver in his voice betrayed his worry.

"I haven't seen her since yesterday, don't worry she's a strong woman she can take care of herself." Kitsuni replied, but then said with a smirk, "Why, you worried that she's run off with another guy?"

"No, nothing like that." He replied with a nervous titter.

Everyone seemed to be down by the distress that Keitaro was radiating. Shinobu's food didn't taste as wonderful and even Su wasn't jumping off the walls as much.

Suddenly there was a knocking at the door.

"That's probably her! I'll get it!" Keitaro anxiously said while rushing to the door. The girls followed at a more leisurely pace.

Instead of seeing Naru's beautiful face at the door, he was dismayed to find an unknown man there. He appeared to be in his late 40's with an agitated look on his face. His brown eyes seemed to perfectly match his short hair. The clothes seem to contradict each other, a simple crisp pressed uniform shirt and dirty cargo pants with a ton of pockets.

"I'm detective Maklie, is Haruka Urashima here?" he simply stated.

"Um, yes my aunt is at the cafe. Is she in trouble?"

"No she isn't but I need to ask her some, questions."

Su, in an innocent voice, said, "What's a detective? Is it tasty?"

That got a smile and a chuckle out of Maklie, until Motoko said, "Keitaro you really need to calm down, have faith that Naru will return."

That new information stunned Maklie, he quickly asked, "Naru Narusegawa lives here?"

"She's been living here for over three years. Did something happen to her?" Keitaro queried in a shaky voice.

Maklie really didn't want to tell them, it's not really his job to deal with people's grief, "Yes something did happen to her and you can find out at the police station. It's at the intersection of General Mao Street and Not So Cherry Blossom Avenue."

Keitaro and the girls immediately bolted to the station as quick as they could. Maklie was left alone, free to question Haruka without interruption.

He went to the tea house, surprisingly there was just one employee there enjoying a smoke.

"Excuse me miss, do you know where I can find Haruka Urshima?"

"You're looking at her, and you are?"

Maklie was surprised, she didn't look as aged as her file implied. He flashed out his badge and said, "I'm Detective Maklie of the Hinata police department. I'm here to verify that you still are in possession of a 9mm pistol, silencer, and ten clips of ammunition. Those are some quite, uncommon possessions and responsibility, just remember you can always give it to the police if it becomes too much to bear."

Haruka appeared momentarily insulted, but quickly went to her room at Hinata Inn, with Maklie following close behind. Her room was filled with organized clutter and picture frames crowded the few shelves there. She rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a dull metal box. Haruka became absolutely stupefied when she looked in it, it was empty except for a piece of paper.

She tossed aside the gun case and rooted through the drawer again. The pistol continued to elude her as items and emptied boxes began to pile haphazardly on the floor. Haruka continued to ransack her own room throwing clothes, artifacts, and pictures every which way. Panic started to seep into her head, 'I had that gun yesterday when I…'

"Are you looking for this?"

Haruka spun around and couldn't believe it, Maklie was holding up a sealed evidence bag with her gun in it.

"I believe you need to come to the station to answer a few questions."

Haruka could only continue to gape at the bag, her burnt out cigarette dropping from her lips to join the mess she had made.

At the coroner, Keitaro couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. His mind for a moment refused to acknowledge what was there.

Naru can't be dead.

Her hair would never be tangled and soiled like that.

She would never be as lifeless as that.

Her smooth face is not the gaping hole that looked like a jackhammer went over its entirety.

The moment passed and he saw for what it is; the corpse of the woman he wanted to spend forever with. His strength left him, he collapsed into a fetal position crying and wailing at his loss and vomiting at the gory image forever branded in his brain. Motoko had to lean on the wall as she gave dry heaves. Su snuggled onto Motoko and made a growing wet spot with her tears. Kitsumi tried to comfort Sarah and Shinobi by holding them down and trying to sooth them with her quivering voice. Kanako stood petrified, her tears were streaming down her face, drenching everything she wore.

Naru just laid quietly there, the dead can't do much more for the living.

To Be Continued…

To the readers and hopefully reviewers: As I said in the 1st chapter updates are going to be erratic. Constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.


	3. Funeral Haruka’s interrogation

Chapter 3 – Funeral / Haruka's interrogation

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Author's notes: Readers and concerned reviewers need not fear discontinuation of this story; I fully expect to finish this story. It may take a year, or two to get to the conclusion, but you will eventually know who the killer is. To clarify, this story is set after the 11th book, so I don't know any extra characters beyond that. Onwards with the show!

Naru's funeral had to be the most messed up thing Haruka had ever seen.

Keitaro cried non-stop the entire time and kept hugging the closed casket.

Kitsumi was nursing her concussion and sorrow by drowning in alcohol. Apparently she had blindly run out of the coroner the moment that she saw Naru's corpse and slipped while everybody else was trying to comprehend Naru's death.

Motoko was wearing a black, surprisingly form fitting gi. She was trying to pry Keitaro off of Naru's coffin when she wasn't crying into his shoulder.

Poor little Shinobi was bawling her little eyes out as she rocked herself on the pew.

Mutsumi was just sitting there in shock next to Tama-chan, silently crying just staring at the coffin. Every time she fainted she would collapse on Shinobi, who always kept roughly shoving her upright.

Kanako was trying to soothe little Su by stroking her back and whisper calming words and glancing at Keitaro with an indecisive look.

Su just continued to cry and flail face down, a melancholic parody of a temper tantrum. Her tears making an ever widening puddle on the carpet.

Sarah was having trouble keeping her bile down, every time she looked at the closed casket she was reminded of the gore she saw at the morgue.

Naru's family kept their distance, not sure if it was safe to approach the hysterical mourners.

Then there's me, just observing from the entrance of the church. I couldn't even bring myself to comfort my own nephew, not with Maklie's questioning still ringing guilt anytime she thought about it.

--- Yesterday, at the police station ---

The interrogation room looked more similar to an unused office than the cliché that Haruka was expecting. The single bright light threw shadows all over the walls. Detective Maklie sat across from her with the bagged gun aside him. He started out innocently enough.

"Now, tell me the last time you were aware of where the pistol was."

"The last time I saw it was yesterday afternoon when I did a monthly cleaning on it."

Maklie seemed to get a little exasperated with that answer, "On the file it said that your excuse for having it was for historic purposes, not for self defense. Seeing that it's an old WWII antique I may still see it that way."

Haruka became quite defensive and wary at the, accusing tone he held, "Your point is?"

"Nothing, nothing." He replied with a dismissive gesture, "Getting onto something else, are you familiar with the name Naru Narusegawa?"

"Yes, why do you ask? Did something-"

"Just tell me your relation to her." Maklie abruptly cut in.

She felt rather slighted by his continued brashness, but she let it slid because he's a police detective, "Naru happens to be a good friend."

"Go on, and tell me the details."

"I met her about five years ago when she moved into the Hinata Dormitory. She was the newest girl there and the most interested in her academics. She was always in her room studying but she managed to become close friends with everyone there and have all the seniors call to ask her out. When Keitaro came they gradually became a couple and they both managed to get into Tokyo University together."

"So not something that you would empty over a hundred rounds of ammunition into her face." He replied in a calm, serious tome and an intense look in his eyes.

Haruka was absolutely stunned at what he said and sobbed out, "Naru's dead! Oh my…" something clicked in her head and in a guarded tone she said, "Wait a minute, you can't possibly think I had something to do with it."

"I can quite easily believe you had something to do with it because it's your gun, but let us for a moment assume that you didn't do the deed. You were the one that brought the gun into Japan. You were the one that took responsibility for it. If you didn't do it then at the very least you could be charged with criminal negligence!" he said with serious conviction.

To placate her raging emotions, she pulled out a cigarette but Maklie interrupted her before she lit a match, "This is a non-smoking room."

She steeled herself and said through gritted teeth, "Did you call me down here to just throw accusations at me?"

"No, not quite, mostly to get some answers." he replied "The answer I need now is as to where you were at about 7:00pm yesterday." He kept maintaining a calm scrutiny of her, trying to gain some insight of her.

"I was working at my teahouse."

"Your shop was closed before that, it says so right on the front of it."

Haruka became a little jittery at that observation and in a weary voice said, "There was this customer that wouldn't leave and kept buying drinks."

"And the name of the customer is?"

"How should I know? I never asked! Are you trying to make me the scapegoat for her death? I. Did. Not. Kill. Her!" Her voice becoming strained and panicky, the feeling that Maklie was trying to corner her.

"Then name someone that you think did it."

She made a huff in frustration and said, "It was probably that freak Kanako that-"

Maklie cut her off again, "Don't tell me who you want to have done it, tell me who else knew where your gun was."

Haruka became stunned when she realized what she just said and replied in a less animated tone, "Shinobu, about four years ago she had found it while cleaning the house. She seemed, concerned about it but I didn't move it."

--- Back to the Present, at the funeral ---

Haruka snapped out of her flashback and saw that they were now about to lower Naru's coffin into her grave. Keitaro was still gripping the coffin, much to the dismay of the Hinata girls who were all trying to pull him off.

Whatever indignation she had felt over the interrogation had evaporated when the funeral started. The thoughts that went through her head when the girls successfully pried him off were, 'I wish I could comfort my mental wreck of a nephew, he'll probably just get angry at me for the same reasons the detective did. Maklie was completely flabbergasted when his boss thanked me for staying after hours that day to serve him drinks. Maklie almost seemed, enraged that I wasn't the killer.'

--- That evening after the funeral, at the Hinata Inn ---

The Hinata residents had made their way back to the place, Haruka had left earlier. It was a rather melancholy air that surrounded them. Suddenly Kitsumi had an idea, she gathered everyone at the table and fill shot glasses in front of them. Su, Shinobu, and Sarah instead having apple juice instead of the sake that was in front of everyone else.

The bewildered, confused stares on her prompted Kitsumi to respond, "I was thinking of holding a wake in her honor." She shakily raised her glass as she began, "Naru Narusegawa, a good friend and a great scholar. I have known her for years; she was always committed, almost obsessive to being the best. Not exactly comfortable with close relationships she tried to keep people at a distance. Nevertheless she was always there for those she cared about. I never really had the chance to truly thank her for that. To Naru, who will miss dearly." At the conclusion they chugged down their drinks.

The entire night they drank and reminisced over their loss.

To be continued…

To the readers and hopefully reviewers, I tried a different scene change technique that I did in chapter two. In that chapter I tried to put in extra spaces to signify a scene change, much to my indignation the extra spaces were dropped. Also any indentions that were put in were also automatically dropped for some reason.

Updates will still be erratic. I'm always appreciative of constructive feedback.


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